In computer networks, a number of network stations are typically interconnected via a communications medium. For example, Ethernet 802.3 is a commonly used local area network (LAN) scheme in which multiple stations are connected to a shared or dedicated serial data path. These stations often communicate with a switch or some other network device located between the data path and the stations connected to that path. The switch typically controls the communication of data and includes logic for receiving and forwarding data frames to their appropriate destinations.
In conventional network switches, the switch may process data frames based on a priority associated with a received data frame. For example, a network switch may categorize data frames as having either a high or low priority and may then process the data frames in accordance with the priority. As the number of priorities supported by the switch increases, reserving resources for processing data frames having each of a number of priorities becomes inefficient.